Jobless in Kochi? Start a boutique in Panampillay Nagar & promote through Facebook!

Jobless in Kochi? Start a boutique in Panampillay Nagar & its Facebook page!

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Go to Kochi and bump into 3 random individuals- chances are two of them are running their fashion boutiques in Panampillay Nagar. Every ladies tailor I know has done their best to catch up with this (now one year old) fad. They have changed their shop names and started displaying cloths on mannequins while creating a page on Facebook. Thus “Vanaja Tailors” has been renamed into “Le Lorel Boutique” and “Niram Ladies Dresses” into “Hues Boutique”. Panampilly Nagar is the new fashion capital of Cochin!

So be it!

As far as I know, this is what you have to know to start a boutique:

1. You have to know to stitch churidars-this is very important. You got to do it like a pro.
2. Then you have to learn to manipulate the stitching of churidar in such a way that it resembles something similar to churidar (but not exactly a churidar!) and name it creatively like Pehalwan Choli, Shawkeen Kamiz, Mumtaz Pallu, etc.
3. Where will you find your raw material cloths? That’s your own well-kept secret. Every month you travel to some remote places in Delhi, Gujarat &….
4. Worried that you have no designing sense? It’s not a problem. The trick is to take two unrelated coloured cloths and cut them left, right and centre. Then to stitch them all together without fear or remorse. This way you master the most required enigmatic skill called MIX & MATCH!
5. And now promoting these stuff on Facebook. That’s easy. Actually very easy! You stitch a dress, shoot a pic, post a post and someone working in Kakkanad Infopark will open their deep wallet for sure. And also eye for NRIs coming home!  (See, this way you don’t even need the help of a Social Media Agency!) 😉

I know, things are not as simple as I wrote here. Well! But social media, especially Facebook is helping these new entrepreneurs-small & big to find their market and sell without incurring huge advertising or marketing costs. That’s promising. Digital is closing the gaps once existed between the seller and the buyer.

Ah! I forgot to mention one last point. Being the wife of a celebrity helps if you are planning to start your boutique. Its gives a boost to your shop, especially if your husband is a movie star!

Let’s Boutique!

Social Media in Kerala OR why Malayalees drive their newly bought expensive cars with headlights on!

It seems, in Kerala, Facebook is going to rule for a long time.

“Hello, Denis, how are things? Is your social media agency selling Facebook well”? Asks one of my friends from Dubai. “So people in Kerala, especially senior professional in business, accepted social media as a new media, right? Could you sell it to Cochin hospitals, Panampilly Nagar’s own 10,000 boutiques, ethnic nadan meen curry restaurants etc. with 250% extra margin”?

Well! Sort of, I replied. And of course not with a 250% margin as you said. In an industry where 16% kickback is there, 5% margin is luxury. And what has happened to Google AdWords in Cochin is killing the online industry altogether. Every Tom, Dick & Harry promises better results within a short period of time. And when they cannot meet those deadlines they stop answering the phone and disappear. Pseudo professionals with little field expertise are killing the industry.

But there is a silver line. Almost all real estate companies use AdWords in Cochin. Even though they are not sure how it works (as their so called AdWords consultants hide the full mechanism behind a load full of jargons) companies use it to catch the NRIs. They know NRIs will search “3BHK apartments in Kochi” and look into the results. So, AdWords is making a comeback lately. So NRIs like you beware; I’ve warned him.

“But I was asking about social media, Denis”. He doesn’t want me to escape like that. “We malayalees are social, aren’t we? We always want to brag about our new cell phones, publicise Singapore/Sri Lanka/UAE tours photos, push our political/religious superiority & tarnish a celebrity-and for doing these we need a medium and Facebook is the perfect one. So, it should be easy for you to sell Social media, right”?

Yep! That way, yes. Brands are rapidly recognizing the power of Social media in Kerala and many are jumping into the band wagon. From Jewellers to fashion stores to real estate builders to restaurants, all want people to boast about their brand. Yes, business is not bad, I replied.

“I will call you up, yaar! We need to talk before I go back to Dubai”. He said turning his car ignition key. And we parted ways.

I think my friend is right. May be everybody deeply has a need to get noticed, to bask in a moment of importance. To be seen significant in a society full of pretention and boasting. May be that will keep Facebook alive for a long time. May be that’s why I see more and more people driving with headlights on even in the day time these days. To bask in glory for a moment, with the help of his/her car DRL.

It seems, in Kerala, Facebook is going to rule for a long time.